The book gives an overview on biomineralization, biological, biocompatible and biomimetic materials. It reveals the use of biomaterials alone or in composites, how their performance can be improved by tailoring their surface properties by external factors and how standard surface modification techniques can be applied in the area of biomaterials to beneficially influence their growth on surfaces.

The book gives an overview on biomineralization, biological, biocompatible and biomimetic materials. It reveals the use of biomaterials alone or in composites, how their performance can be improved by tailoring their surface properties by external factors and how standard surface modification techniques can be applied in the area of biomaterials to beneficially influence their growth on surfaces.

Important in studying of biomineralization is the study of the surface and chapter 2 explores typical techniques for surface characterization and shows how these techniques can be modified to serve specific needs in the study of biomaterials. Chapters 3 and 4 reveal factors that can be used to influence the growth of the biomaterial hydroxyapatite (the main inorganic constituent in mammal bones and teeth), namely laser energy, organic matrix and incorporation of minor amount of nanoparticles into the hydroxyapatite matrix. Proteins are also used to modulate the cellular interactions with the hydroxyapatite.

The following three chapters (5, 6 and 7) are devoted to an example of the pathological mineralization, namely the formation of bacterial films on teeth and soft tissues in the mouth and how it can be removed to achieve better oral health

About the Authors

Dr. Emilia Pecheva

Dr. Emilia Pecheva is an Associated Professor and a Doctor of Sciences at the group of Biocompatible Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. She received her MSc degree in Laser physics from Sofia University and her PhD degree in solid state physics and materials science from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Pecheva has held several positions abroad: at the School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, UK, the Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan, and the Institut d’Electronique du Solide et des Systemes, CNRS (now ICube, University of Strasbourg), Strasbourg, France. She has been working briefly with the industry on three grants with Unilever, Italy and Dentsply, USA.

Her fields of scientific research include biomineralization, biomaterials, hydroxyapatite, composite materials, dental hard tissue, surface modification, surface and interface characterization, laser interaction with materials, interaction material-aqueous media, polymers and cell-material interactions. Currently, Prof. Pecheva is the leader of the Biocompatible Materials group at the Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.